First Snow
by CullenGirl968
Summary: Started as a project for language arts class, turned into a fanfiction. See what happens when a person who's never seen snow before goes to the Swiss Alps.


- 3 -

First Snow

I, Erika Greene, had never seen snow before. Of course, I had seen it on TV and in movies, but never in real life. I had lived in Cocoa Beach, Florida all my life, where the average winter temperature usually hovered around sixty degrees farenheight.

So, naturally, I was a little anxious about my family's unexpected decision to take a trip to Switzerland. Weren't the Swiss Alps out there? I was going to a place covered in snow, and I didn't even like standing in the freezer section in Wal-Mart! Of course, before the trip my mom and I had set out to find a winter jacket for me (a tough feat when the temperature never drops below forty), but I was still worried about spending a week in a place famous for being cold.

I drummed my fingers impatiently on the armrest of our cheap coach seats, unable to concentrate on the movie that was playing. The flight attendants were just coming around with breakfast packs. When one got to me, I thanked her and quietly and absentmindedly started eating my fruit salad. We must be getting close.

Sure enough, a voice came over the intercom informing us (first in French, then in English) that we would be landing shortly. I smiled, eager to get off of this plane. I nudged my younger sister, who had fallen asleep next to me.

"Trish, we're here," I whispered. She sat up reluctantly, headphones falling off of her lap. We started to descend then. I opened the shade on the window, which had been closed all night.

The light temporarily blinded me, but when I blinked away the spots, what I saw was amazing. There were mountains everywhere, going out as far as I could see until they faded into the horizon. Below us, there was a small city. What took my breath away, though, was not these beautiful sights. Everything, everywhere, was coated in a sparkling white layer of snow.

"Wow", I breathed. We were descending quicker now, into the city. I could make out a small airport with a few planes surrounding it, all red with white crosses on their sides (which I now remember was the Swiss flag). A voice came over the intercom again saying,

"Nous'arrivons au Zurich." I knew enough French for that one. We were here. The plane landed, bouncing a little when it hit the ground.

"We have arrived in Zurich", the voice repeated in English. I got off the plane with my family, careful not to get lost in the bustling crowds. People all around me were talking, jabbering away at each other in German. Of course, my mother was ecstatic.

"Did you see all that snow? Look, a whole bookstore in another language! What a long flight!" She continued our whole walk through the airport, baggage claim and the ride to the hotel. She finally stopped when we entered the hotel (only after commenting on the automatic doors of course) and went to check us in.

I occupied myself by staring out the window, something I was doing a lot lately. The mountains were just so huge! My dad came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"So are you going to try snowboarding?" The snowy Alps in front of me suddenly seemed ominous.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"Trust me," he laughed "You'll love it. I used to snowboard all the time." I shrugged, unable to find words. Once we were checked in, we had the whole day in front of us. My sister, the traitor was all for my dad's snowboarding plans. I had no choice but to play along.

We headed to a rental shop at the base of the mountain, looking like full blown tourists with our cameras and Eskimo jackets. The man at the store was nice, but he didn't speak very much English. It took me three explanations to realize that "goofy" meant "lefty". Before I knew it, I was all suited up at the base of the gondola.

That was when my nervousness hit me: I, a person who was seeing snow for the first time in her life, was going to attempt to snowboard down the Swiss Alps. Panic was taking hold of me.

No, I thought, I'm no quitter. I can do this! This was why I came out here, right? To try new things. I stepped onto the gondola, my head held high and a huge smile on my face. How lucky was I, to be here snowboarding in Europe! This was going to be a day to remember.

·§·


End file.
